Collapsible portable box-office.



I. FLUEGELMAN.

GOLLAPSIBLE PORTABLE .BOX OFFICE. APPLIOATION FILED AUG.16, 1907.

PATENTED JUNE '16, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

'' rm: NORRIS Pzrcles cm, wasnnvarou, n. c.

PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908. I. FLUEGELMAN.

GOLLAPSIBLE PORTABLE BOX OFPIGB. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1907.

s sums-sum 2.

PATENTED JUNE 16; 1908. I. FLUEGELMAN.

GOLLAPSIBLE PORTABLE BOX OFFICE,

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1907.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ISIDOR FLUEGELMAN, NEW YORK, N. Y.

COLLAPSIBLE PORTABLE BOX-OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Application filed August 16, 1907. Serial No. 388,820.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISIDOR FLUEGELMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, Manhattan borough, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Portable Box-Oflices, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to foldable structures, but more particularly to booths for the purpose of serving as box-offices for circus purposes, or for what is known as the one-night stand traveling theatrical troupes, or for any analogous purpose.

While the object of this invention is to provide a booth which can be folded up and packed in a trunk, the said booth is also provided with foldable, pivotally mounted, ticket racks as well as a foldable pivotally mounted money receptacle and windowshelf.

My improved structure is also well adapted for permanent theatrical erformances,

' for the following reason: In al large cities the obstruction of the lobby of a theater by permanent booths or the like, is prohibited by the fire authorities after the performance has begun. As the greatest rush on the b0X- office takes place, usually, during the last twenty minutes before the time set for the curtain to rise, I can set up my foldable booth and thus aid the box-office, or I may set u two or more booths, as may be require After the performance has commenced, I can fold the booth and store it away until again wanted.

To these and other ends which will hereinafter appear, my invention comprises the novel features of improvement and combination and arrangement of parts which I will now proceed to describe and finally claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 illustrates a vertical sectional View of my improved foldable booth, looking from the rear. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, the section being taken on a line aa in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the front member of the booth, showing the ticket-racks, money receptacle and windo'wshelf folded, the section being taken on a line b-b in Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical central sectional detail view of the front member of the booth, a portion of the to being also shown, showing the manner of f0 dably mounting the window-shelf and unfolding the money receptacle. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the money rece tacle eX- tended for use; Fig. 6 is a view, looliing from the rear of the booth, showing the manner of unfolding the money receptacle; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the ticket-racks; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the other of said ticket-racks; Fig. 9 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view, showing the rack illustrated in Fig. 8, folded, 'the section being taken on a line cc in Fig. 8; and Fig. 10 is a rear view, on a reduced scale, of my improved booth showing the door in the rear member of said booth.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the numeral 1 indicates the front member or wall of my improved booth, while 2 indicates the side members, and 3 the rear member, which is provided with a door 4 hinged as at 5 and provided with an inside latch 6, the door 4 opening outwardly.

One of the objects of this invention is to hold the members 1, 2 and 3 without the aid of nails or screws, and to accomplish this end I provide the top 7 and bottom 8 with flanges 9 and 10, respectively. When the front and side members are assembled for use, the top 7 and bottom 8 will hold the said members by means of the said flanges 9 and 10. As an extra precaution I prefer to bind the members 1, 2 and 3 together by means of suitable releasable latches 11, which in this instance are represented by hooks and eyes. Any suitable latch may be used however. The top 7 will rest in place by virtue of its weight; and the weight of the whole structure will keep the members in place on the bottom, or base 8. In the front member 1 a window 12 is provided, through which a shelf 13 can pass. In Figs. 1 and 2 the window-shelf 13 is shown in position for use. The shelf 13 is substantially the same size as the window 12, and when in use the said shelf is held mid way of its length by pins 14 retained in grooves 15 (see Fig. 1), the inner end of said shelf being adapted to extend over and protect the money-receptacle. The shelf 13 will of course rest upon the portion 15 of the window.

Adjacent to the window 12, and under the grooves being used.

inner end of the shelf 13, I place a foldable money-receptacle 16, which is composed of a bottom 17, hinged to the front member 1, as at 18 (see Figs. 4 and 5), side members 19, which are hinged to the bottom 17, as at 20 (Fig. 5), and a back-member 21, which is also hinged to the bottom 17 as at 22 (Fig. 6). The front member, or wall, 1 of the booth forms the front of the money-receptacle 16 when said receptacle is in use, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To hold the sidemembers 19 in a vertical position and also to support the money-receptacle as a whole, in substantially a horizontal position, I employ hooks and eyes 23, one end of each hook being secured to the front wall 1, the other end of said hooks being adapted to engage eyes 24 carried by the sides 19 (see Fig. 1). As shown in Fig. 1, the hooks 23 are angularly inclined in order to keep the moneyreceptacle 16 in the horizontal position referred to. To keep the rear member 21 in position I use hooks and eyes 25 (Fig. 5), one 0111 being shown.

ther important features of my invention are the ticket racks 26 and 27 (Figs. 1 and 2). The rack 26 is for the purpose of holding tickets which are to be sold directly therefrom, the tickets thereby retained being arranged in their proper order. The rack 26 comprises the end walls 28 and partition walls 29 (see Fig. 1),.each of said walls containing grooves 30 adapted to hold tickets in a horizontal plane, any desired number of The end walls 28 and partition walls 29 are each hinged to the front member 1 of the booth, as at 31. Each of the said walls has pivotally mounted u on the top thereof, a parallel bar 32, said ar being in engagement with pins 33 carried by each of said walls (see Fig. 7). The walls are held in an extended position, whereby a rack is formed, by hooks and eyes 34 (see Fig. 1).

On the opposite side of the window 12 I mount racks 27 which are designed to retain, in pockets, bunches of tickets intended to be distributed in the rack 26 at the proper time. The rack 27 comprises the end walls 35, partition wall 36 top 37, bottom 38, and shelves 39. The top 37 is hinged to the front member 1 of the booth, as at 40 and the bottom 38 is also hinged to the front member 1 of the booth as at 41 (see Fig. 1). The end walls 35 of the racks are hinged to the front member 1 of the booth as at 42 (see Fig. 9). The partition wall 36 is also hinged to the front member 1, as at 44. The walls 35 and 36 are preferably hung on battens 43, which extend from the front member 1 in order to bring the said walls beyond the shelves 39 when said shelves and walls are folded (see Fig. 9). The top 37 of the rack 27 is provided with openings adapted to fit over pins 45 carried by each. of the walls 35 and 36. The bottom 38 is held up by a hook and eye 46 (see Fig. 1), while the whole structure is kept in an extended position, for use, by the to 37.

When the walls 35 and 36 are c osed as in Fig. 9, and I wish to form the rack, I pull the said walls outwardly and, commencing from the bottom I drop the shelves 39, which fold upwardly, one by one onto the stops 45 carried by the said walls. I then drop the top 37 onto the walls 35 and 36 and then bring up the bottom 38 and apply the hook 41.

I fold the booth as follows: In the event of the members 28, 29 of the rack 26 being folded as shown in Fig. 3, I simply swing them outwardly and fasten them in position, as in Fig. 2, by the hooks and eyes 34 as shown.

In the event of the window-shelf 13 being folded, as shown in Fig. 4, I pull up the latch 47 out of the catch 48 carried by said shelf 13, the said latch and catch being for the purpose of holding the shelf 13 in position when said shelf is folded. After the latch 47 has been raised, I push the shelf 13 in or out, at

the bottom or top thereof, whereby the said shelf will rotate, and when the bottom of the shelf has cleared the portion 15 which forms the bottom of-the window space 12,.the said shelf will drop into the position shown in Fig. 2. The pin 14 is adapted to slide in the groove 15.

In the event of the money-receptacle 16 being unfolded, as in Fig. 6, and I wish to fold it for use, I pull bottom 17 upwardly, then bring the sides 19 to a right angular position with respect to the bottom 17, and insert the hooks 23 into the eyes therefor. I then bring the end 21 up against the ends of the sides 18 (as in Fig. 5), and fasten it, in place by the hooks and eyes 25. When the money-receptacle 16 is unfolded and in condition for shipment, it will rest against the front portion 1 of the booth, the parts of the said money-receptacle being. extended as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. As the folding and unfolding of the money-receptacle 16, window-shelf 13 and racks 26 and 27 has been made clear, it is but necessary to explain the manner of preparing the booth for shipment.

It has been made clear that the front 1, sides 2 and back 3 of the booth are held together by the top 7, bottom 8, and fastening devices 11. Therefore it is but necessary to unfasten the devices 11, take off the top 7, lift the front 1, sides 2 and back 3 from the bottom 4; the racks 26 and 27, shelf 13 and money-receptacle 16 being of course knocked down, or folded, in the case of the racks and shelf, and unfolded in the case of the moneyreceptacle 16. After having taken the booth apart, the whole structure may be placed in a suitable receptacle for shipment.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a foldable boX- oflice having a window-opening, a money receptacle adjacent thereto, a shelf pivotally mounted adjacent to said money receptacle and adapted to extend over and protect the said money receptacle, said shelf being adapted to swing upwardly and close said windowopening.

2. In combination with a foldable boxoffice having a Window opening, a money receptacle adjacent thereto, said window opening being provided in the sides thereof with a vertiealgroove, a window shelf pivotally mounted in said groove, whereby said shelf is adapted to be moved upwardly bodily and rotated to close said window-opening, the innor end of said shelf when said shelf is in position for use, being long enough to extend over and protect said money receptacle.

3. In combination with a foldable boxoffice having a window-opening, a money receptacle adjacent thereto, said window-opening being provided in the sides thereof with a vertical groove, a window shelf pivotally mounted in said groove, whereby the said shelf is adapted to be moved upwardly bodily and rotated to close said window-opening, said shelf, when in use, being adapted to rest on the sill of the window opening and to extend over and protect the money receptacle.

Signed at New York city, N. Y., this 12th day of August 1907.

ISIDOR FLUEGELMAN.

Witnesses:

EDWARD A. JARVIS, ABRAM SHLIVEK. 

